Quiz: The Dalai Lama
Test your knowledge of the Dalai Lama, whom Evan Osnos writes about in the October 4, 2010, issue of The New Yorker.
- 1.In this week’s magazine, Evan Osnos writes about the Dalai Lama, who just celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday. What does the Dalai Lama refer to as “a change of clothing”?
- A.
Birth
- B.
Aging
- C.
Exile
- D.
Death
- 2.How did the late New York Times editor Abe Rosenthal, who was friends with the Dalai Lama, describe his appearance?
- A.
“Understated but refined.”
- B.
“Solid yet airy.”
- C.
“Like a middle linebacker.”
- D.
“Like a smile personified.”
- 3.Which ruler has been in power for longer than the Dalai Lama?
- A.
Fidel Castro
- B.
Queen Elizabeth
- C.
Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand
- D.
None of the above
- 4.How many books list the Dalai Lama as an author?
- A.
One
- B.
Five
- C.
Thirty-four
- D.
At least a hundred
- 5.What does “Dalai Lama” translate as, literally?
- A.
Patient Ruler
- B.
Ocean Teacher
- C.
Soaring Spirit
- D.
Father Son
- 6.Who chairs the board of the International Campaign for Tibet?
- A.
Kerry Kennedy
- B.
Elie Wiesel
- C.
Richard Gere
- D.
Harrison Ford
- 7.What did the Dalai Lama tell Oprah was a “stupid question”?
- A.
Whether he has trouble with his celibacy vow
- B.
Whether the whole world should meditate
- C.
Whether he gets bored of his yellow-and-maroon ensemble
- D.
Whether he has read “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”
- 8.The Dalai Lama’s elder brother lived for more than forty years in the town that was home to Bobby Knight and Alfred Kinsey. Where is that?
- A.
Lubbock, Texas
- B.
Bloomington, Indiana
- C.
Lawrence, Kansas
- D.
Durham, North Carolina
- 9.According to Osnos’s piece, what most concerned the young Dalai Lama about presiding over long, elaborate ceremonies?
- A.
Falling asleep
- B.
Boredom
- C.
Forgetting his lines
- D.
Bladder control
- 10.Which entertainer is NOT Buddhist?
- A.
Leonard Cohen
- B.
Oliver Stone
- C.
Catherine Keener
- D.
Goldie Hawn
- 11.Which comic-book character DOES NOT have Buddhism in his past?
- A.
Wolverine
- B.
Batman
- C.
Green Lantern
- D.
Green Arrow
- 12.In “Seven Years in Tibet,” who plays the Dalai Lama’s mother?
- A.
Diki Tsering, his actual mother
- B.
Jetsun Pema, his actual sister
- C.
France Nuyen, who played Liat in the 1958 film “South Pacific”
- D.
Li Na, one of Mao Zedong’s daughters
- 13.Neither “Seven Years in Tibet” nor Martin Scorsese’s “Kundun” was actually filmed in Tibet. Where did Scorsese film instead?
- A.
Argentina
- B.
Morocco
- C.
Hawaii
- D.
Thailand
- 14.In 1956, a man named T. Lobsang Rampa wrote a popular memoir called “The Third Eye” about his life as a Tibetan monk, including a story about having a hole drilled into his forehead that allowed him to see auras. Two years later, a private investigator determined that the book’s author was actually whom?
- A.
Herb Stempel, the coached contestant turned whistle-blower from the quiz show “Twenty-One”
- B.
Anthony Cox, the second husband of Yoko Ono
- C.
Sam Cummings, a C.I.A. operative in the early fifties
- D.
Cyril H. Hoskin, the unemployed son of a British plumber
- 15.What prompted Paul McCartney to write a letter to the Dalai Lama?
- A.
The Dalai Lama’s appearance in an Apple advertisement
- B.
The Dalai Lama’s performance with John Mellencamp
- C.
McCartney’s conversion to Buddhism
- D.
McCartney’s concern about the Dalai Lama eating meat
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